Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) are on the verge of becoming commercially viable for power production, where advancements in subsurface characterization are imperative to develop EGS into a ...competitive industry. Theory of an EGS is simple, pump fluids into thermally enhanced lithology and extract the hot fluids to produce energy. One significant complication in EGS development is estimating where injected fluids flow in the subsurface. Micro‐seismic surveys can provide information about where fractures opened, but not fracture connectivity nor fluid inclusion. Electromagnetic methods are sensitive to conductivity contrasts and can be used as a supplementary tool to delineate reservoir boundaries. In July, 2011, an injection test for a 3.6 km deep EGS at Paralana, South Australia was continuously monitored by both micro‐seismic and magnetotellurics (MT). Presented are the first results from continuous MT measurements suggesting transient variations in subsurface conductivity structure generated from the introduction of fluids at depth can be measured. Furthermore, phase tensor representation of the time dependent MT response suggests fluids migrated in a NE direction from the injection well. Results from this experiment supports the extension of MT to a monitoring tool for not only EGS but other hydraulic stimulations.
Key Points
Magnetotellurics can be used to monitor fluid injections at depth
Estimating an error floor ensures an observable change above measurement error
Phase tensor analysis provides information about reservoir spatial variation
The clean energy transition will require a vast increase in metal supply, yet new mineral deposit discoveries are declining, due in part to challenges associated with exploring under sedimentary and ...volcanic cover. Recently, several case studies have demonstrated links between lithospheric electrical conductors imaged using magnetotelluric (MT) data and mineral deposits, notably Iron Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG). Adoption of MT methods for exploration is therefore growing but the general applicability and relationship with many other deposit types remains untested. Here, we compile a global inventory of MT resistivity models from Australia, North and South America, and China and undertake the first quantitative assessment of the spatial association between conductors and three mineral deposit types commonly formed in convergent margin settings. We find that deposits formed early in an orogenic cycle such as volcanic hosted massive sulfide (VHMS) and copper porphyry deposits show weak to moderate correlations with conductors in the upper mantle. In contrast, deposits formed later in an orogenic cycle, such as orogenic gold, show strong correlations with mid-crustal conductors. These variations in resistivity response likely reflect mineralogical differences in the metal source regions of these mineral systems and suggest a metamorphic-fluid source for orogenic gold is significant. Our results indicate the resistivity structure of mineralized convergent margins strongly reflects late-stage processes and can be preserved for hundreds of millions of years. Discerning use of MT is therefore a powerful tool for mineral exploration.
We present two‐dimensional electrical resistivity models of two 40 km magnetotelluric (MT) profiles across the Frome Embayment to the east of the northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia. The lower ...crust shows low resistivity of 10 Ω m at around 30 km depth. The middle crust is dominated by resistive (>1000 Ω m) basement rocks underlying the Flinders Ranges. Adjacent to the ranges, conductive lower crust is connected to vertical zones of higher conductivity extending to just below the brittle‐ductile transition at ∼10 km depth. The conductive zones narrow in the brittle upper crust and dip at roughly 45° beneath the surface. Zones of enhanced conductivity coincide with higher strain due to topographic loading and sparse seismicity. We propose that fluids are generated through neotectonic metamorphic devolatilization. Low‐resistivity zones display areas of fluid pathways along either preexisting faults or an effect of crustal compression leading to metamorphic fluid generation. The lower crustal conductors are responding to long‐wavelength flexure‐induced strain, while the upper crustal conductors are responding to short wavelength faulting in the brittle regime. MT is a useful tool for imaging crustal strain in response to far‐field stresses in an intraplate setting and provides important constraints for geodynamic modeling and crustal rheology.
Key Points
Magnetotelluric profiles across an area of active intraplate deformation
Low electrical resistivity correlates with enhanced seismicity and high crustal strain
Low resistivity may be due to metamorphic devolatilization and fluid release
A 581 km vibroseis-source, deep seismic reflection survey was acquired through the Capricorn Orogen of Western Australia and, for the first time, provides an unprecedented view of the deep crustal ...architecture of the West Australian Craton. The survey has imaged three principal suture zones, as well as several other lithospheric-scale faults. The suture zones separate four seismically distinct tectonic blocks, which include the Pilbara Craton, the Bandee Seismic Province (a previously unrecognised tectonic block), the Glenburgh Terrane of the Gascoyne Province and the Narryer Terrane of the Yilgarn Craton. In the upper crust, the survey imaged numerous Proterozoic granite batholiths as well as the architecture of the Mesoproterozoic Edmund and Collier basins. These features were formed during the punctuated reworking of the craton by the reactivation of the major crustal structures. The location and setting of gold, base metal and rare earth element deposits across the orogen are closely linked to the major lithospheric-scale structures, highlighting their importance to fluid flow within mineral systems by the transport of fluid and energy direct from the mantle into the upper crust.
We report observation of the electroweak production of single top quarks in ppover collisions at sqrts=1.96 TeV based on 2.3 fb(-1) of data collected by the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron ...Collider. Using events containing an isolated electron or muon and missing transverse energy, together with jets originating from the fragmentation of b quarks, we measure a cross section of sigma(ppover --> tb + X, tqb + X) = 3.94 + or - 0.88 pb. The probability to measure a cross section at this value or higher in the absence of signal is 2.5 x 10(-7), corresponding to a 5.0 standard deviation significance for the observation.
We present new direct constraints on a general Wtb interaction using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 fb-1 collected by the D0 detector at the Tevatron p p macr collider. The ...standard model provides a purely left-handed vector coupling at the Wtb vertex, while the most general, lowest dimension Lagrangian allows right-handed vector and left- or right-handed tensor couplings as well. We obtain precise limits on these anomalous couplings by comparing the data to the expectations from different assumptions on the Wtb coupling.
We present a search for the production of neutral Higgs bosons decaying into tau + tau - pairs in p p macr collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV. The data, corresponding to an integrated ...luminosity of 5.4 fb-1, were collected by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. We set upper limits at the 95% C.L. on the product of production cross section and branching ratio for a scalar resonance decaying into tau + tau - pairs, and we interpret these limits as limits on the production of Higgs bosons in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) and as constraints in the MSSM parameter space.
We measure the correlation between the spin of the top quark and the spin of the anti-top quark in inline imageinline image final states produced in inline imageinline image collisions at a center of ...mass energy inline imageinline image, where l is an electron or muon. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 fb super(-1) and were collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. The correlation is extracted from the angles of the two leptons in the t and inline imageinline image rest frames, yielding a correlation strength inline imageinline image, in agreement with the NLO QCD prediction within two standard deviations, but also in agreement with the no correlation hypothesis.
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